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West files complaint against St. Lucie County, gets support from Georgia GOP leader

District 18 race still undeclared

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Updated: 6:24 PM EST Nov 13, 2012

West files complaint against St. Lucie County, gets support from Georgia GOP leader

District 18 race still undeclared

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Updated: 6:24 PM EST Nov 13, 2012

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. —

Rep. Allen West is among a handful of plaintiffs who filed a complaint ordering the St. Lucie County Canvassing Board to recount all the early votes leading up to last week's election in the race for the 18th Congressional District seat.

Political newcomer Patrick Murphy claims he's the winner, but the last few days have been filled with confusion.

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West asked for a specific three-day stretch of early ballots to be recounted, and St. Lucie County Elections Supervisor Gertrude Walker had her office conduct a recount of three different days of ballots. That recount brought West's vote total closer to Murphy, but not close enough to trigger the legally required automatic recount.

"This limited, partial re-feed -- not conducted pursuant to any statute -- uncovered significant errors in the initial tabulation of votes," West's office said in a release late Tuesday afternoon. "Nearly 1,000 votes disappeared from the count, and neither the Canvassing Board nor the Supervisor provided any explanation for this selective recount."

All the back-and-forth still hasn't produced an official winner, but it was enough to coax several dozen protesters to Walker's office in Port St. Lucie on Tuesday.

And Wednesday, representatives from the local office of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network will be in town to speak at a news conference about the situation, they said in a release issued late Tuesday afternoon.

And just to stir the pot even more, the Georgia Republican Party chairman said Tuesday she thinks West, an Atlanta native, should run in that state in case his defeat in Florida is confirmed.